Email Marketing
Starting an email marketing campaign to connect with your customer base is pretty much the minimum you want to achieve. Using Autorepsonders (automated emails) it has never been easier to send weekly newsletters and broadcast messages to your customers to ensure they are well up to speed with the latest news and offerings from your company.
Autoresponders allow you to automate the sending of emails to those customers that have expressed an interest in staying in touch. The flexibility they afford means you get complete control over the schedule of emails sent and it requires very little technical knowledge to configure.
Aweber and MailChimp are the current “tour de force” in this market. Sign up for an account, create a form to capture email addresses on your site, set up an email sequence – hey presto you’re communicating!
Follow Me (Twitter)
Twitter, the micro blogging platform that is extremely hard to ignore, presents an exciting interface to allow you to communicate with your customers and the world at large – or at least those who follow you.
Twitter allows you to send short, engaging messages up to 140 characters in length that should wherever possible NOT be perceived as a pitch fest for your latest and greatest products. The social media crowd are a savvy bunch and any attempt to bombard them with special offers will be met with much distaste. Rather use this opportunity to engage with your customers as opposed to engaging in the hard sell.
In addition to be able to reach out it also offers a platform for you to learn more about your market by following industry experts or mentors.
Facebook Fan Pages
With facebook the fastest growing social network in the world do you really want to ignore this opportunity to connect with potential customers?
Facebook Fan pages allow customers to connect seamlessly with your small business products or services with the benefit of not having to leave Facebook. Typically more for branding purposes it does offer a line of communication to customers already engaged in this medium.
If Facebook is where the bulk of your customers hangs out then it’s only prudent to suggest you represent your small business there.
Skype
Small business tools have never been so cool! Skype gives small business owners the freedom to conduct business with minimal overheads and allows your customers to “call in” on your business from anywhere in the world – with your permission of course!
This fantastic piece of free software allows you to engage in good old face-to-face business by providing unlimited free calls over the internet (using Voice Over IP technology) to any another Skype contact. It also allows you to add credit to your account and make cheap calls to any local or international numbers.
To get started simply download, install the client and add some contacts. You’ll need a headset and microphone or some speakers on your computer/laptop. To make use of the video features you’ll obviously need a webcam.
Add your Skype contact details on your website and encourage your customers to connect with you.
This is a perfect tool for conducting business around the world, be that setting up a meeting or chatting to suppliers. Powerful features that should excite small business owners include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing. Never feel disconnected again!
Webinars
Webinars are another great tool to engage with customers. Webinars are the live seminars of the online world and as such present a great opportunity to present your business and services to a wider audience.
Typically a one-way communication platform (one to many) it lets you to “connect” with customers through live video and presentations, allowing polling and Q&A sessions from your listeners. As with many of the modern tools used to interact with customers it requires to you deliver some value in exchange for the opportunity to advertise your small business services.
Webinars in addition to being “tools of engagement” are also a fantastic learning tool that allows you to get a firm grip on the latest news and trends in your own market.
Features of webinars:
- Slideshow presentations – highlight your product/services
- Live (streaming) video
- Meeting recording – for replaying and distribution
- Whiteboard – allows presenter to interact and highlight key points
- Polls/Surveys – get feedback and input from the audience
I highly recommend BrightTalk for their wide range of engaging webinars. Join a few webinars and get to grips with how they work and then produce a few of your own.
Have you had success with these tools? What other tools do you use to communicate with your customers?
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